ENHANCED BIOREMEDIATION AND MODIFIED BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE BY BARN¬YARD GRASS IN DIESEL-CONTAMINATED SOIL

Kim, Jaisoo; Min, Kyung-Ah; Cho, Kyung-Suk; Lee, In-Sook

doi:2007.12.2.37

Environmental Engineering Research 2007;12(2): 37-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2007.12.2.037

ENHANCED BIOREMEDIATION AND MODIFIED BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE BY BARN¬YARD GRASS IN DIESEL-CONTAMINATED SOIL

Jaisoo Kim¹^†, Kyung-Ah Min², Kyung-Suk Cho², and In-Sook Lee³

¹Department of Life Science, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 443-760, Korea
²Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University Seoul, 120-750, Korea
³Department of Life Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 120-750, Korea

Corresponding Author: Jaisoo Kim ,Tel: +82-31-249-9648, Fax: +82-31-249-9139 , Email: jkimtamu@kyonggi.ac.kr

Received: September 8, 2006; Accepted: April 7, 2007.

ABSTRACT

Phytoremediation has been used effectively for the biodegradation of oil-based contaminants, including diesel, by the stimulation of soil microbes near plant roots (rhizosphere). However, the technique has rarely been assessed for itsinfluence on soil microbial properties such as population, community structure, and diversity. In this study, the removal efficiency and characteristics of rhizobacteria for phyto-remediation of diesel-contaminated soils were assessed using barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli). The concentration of spiked diesel for treatments was around 6000 mg kg-1. Diesel removal efficiencies reached 100% in rhizosphere soils, 76% in planted bulk soils, and 62% in unplanted bulk soils after 3weeks stabilization and 2 months growth (control, no microbial activity: 32%). The highest populations of culturable soil bacteria (5.89x10s per g soil) and culturable hydrocarbon-degraders (5.65x106 per g soil) werefound in diesel-contaminated rhizosphere soil, also yielding the highest microbial dehydrogenase. This suggests that the populations of soil bacteria, including hydrocarbon-degraders, were significantly increased by a synergistic rhizosphere + diesel effect. The diesel treatment alone resulted in negative population growth. In addition, we investigated the bacterial community structures of each soil sample based on DGGE (Denaturing Gel Gradient Electrophoresis) band patterns. Bacterial community structure was most influenced by the presence of diesel contamination (76.92% dissimilarity to the control) and by a diesel + rhizosphere treatment (65.62% dissimilarity), and least influenced by the rhizosphere treatment alone (48.15% dis¬similarity). Based on the number of distinct DGGE bands, the bacterial diversity decreased with diesel treatment, but kept constant in the rhizosphere treatment. The rhizosphere thus positively influenced bacterial population density in diesel-contaminated soil, resulting in high removal efficiency of diesel.